veronica. >> tracie potts live for us this morning in washington. tracie, thank you. >>> american students and teachers could be in for major changes. if president obama has his way. the president joined "today's" matt lauer. this is a special week of programming on concerns over the education system. the president talks about what he wants to see at schools, including identifying teachers who do well and getting rid of those who don't. he discussed an idea that probably won't sit so well with most kids. >> i think we should have longer school years. we now have our kids go to school about a month less than most other advanced countries. and that month makes a difference. >> don't forget, our coverage of education nation continues on the "today" show and on nbc nightly news right here on this nbc station. for more resources and information, check out our special website, educationnation.com. >>> palestinian president mahmoud abbas says he will wait at least one week before deciding whether or not to quit middle east peace talks with israel. that dev